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Author
Topic: How do I get rid of my pouch? (Read 9517 times)

Hey everyone hope you all are well I wanted to come on here and ask a question about stomach pouches does anyone have a problem with that in that area? cause I do.It seems to get bigger when I put on weight it always looks like I have a pregnant belly lol.Is there anyway to get rid of it? could the medications I'm taking causing me to have this pouch? I'm only on two medications twice a day Viramune and Combivir and plus I'm a little on the slim side so having a big stomach is not a good look lol but luckily my clothes hides it lol thank God.When I sit down that is when it sticks out the most lol I can rest the palms of my hands on it lol like if I was checking my belly to see if my baby was kicking lol.I would like to read about anyone else also experiencing having a little pouch stomach.

If it's a metabolic change due to HIV medications exercise won't do much. This is typified by a visceral accumulation of fat in the abdominal region, as opposed to a subcutaneous fat.

If it's just simple weight gain (subcutaneous fat), then a decrease in your intake of calories coupled with exercise should address it. Fat accumulation and lipodystrophy are clinically distinct.

More likely is that it's a combination of the two.

Miss Philicia is RIGHT........I do 100 sit ups a day, and i still look like a pregnant man, so, my problem isn't due to the lack of any work-outs, it has a great deal to do with my age (I'm 52 now) and, my metabolic change due to YEARS of taking HIV medications, age and lipodystrophy but I still do the work-outs (belly crunches) daily, if i didn't do them, I'd look much worst than I do now

« Last Edit: December 12, 2008, 01:57:00 PM by denb45 »

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

You'd still probably have a layer of subcutaneous if you didn't exercise, so it's still to your advantage to do that even if it doesn't effect the visceral. My post was not meant to demean the benefits of exercise -- and of course overall it's very good for one's heart function, etc.

I will fully admit to having been, pre-lipo, a full-fledged gym bunny. I do not spend 5 days/week in a gym currently, mostly because of what I described and when the vanity element is not obtainable there's less of a desire on my part to make the sacrifice. Plus a gym membership where I live is not cheap. Still, it's a sad excuse as at the very least I should purchase an exercise mat and do sit ups in my living room I do own some dumbells but so far they've just sat in a corner. It's a bit depressing to know that just 8 years ago I could rip my shirt off on a dance floor and not be embarrassed.

But yeah, I'm not 35 any more and that's part of it all. Actually my biggest regret looking back is spending all of my 20's as a skinny queen. I didn't really start to work out until I was about 28. If I'd known then that I'd be getting lipo at 35 I'd have applied myself earlier.

I gym membership isn't cheap any where now-a-days......I have a 12 speed bike, but, it's Winter now and too cold to ride it, I also have a indoor recumbent bike, that I use in the Winter months, and a Blow-Flex that I use every other day, I'm too dam old to look like a gym bunny (That's never gonna happen) but I do this 2 to 4 times a week ,to keep up my cardio and to build muscle, or at the very least, to keep my body toned-up, my partner Bob, says I look GOOD and I'm Very FIT for a 52 yrs old man with Full-Blown-AIDS

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Hey everyone hope you all are well I wanted to come on here and ask a question about stomach pouches does anyone have a problem with that in that area? cause I do.

Got the same problem here also. I've been trying everything over the past 4 years to get rid of it, through exercise and diet. Nothing seems to work. I just continue to do my exercises daily, and keep the cardiovascular exercises going daily. Walking, swimming riding bike, and still jumping rope. ( although I jiggle a lot ! ) Got to keep moving.

Seadickrun

Another alternative would be to slightly increase your chest size which would make the gut seem smaller by comparison. I also used to bartend in a "bear bar" which made me look slimmer. I'll go to great lengths to avoid any kind of crunch (unless its wrapped in Nestle's).

Hey everyone hope you all are well I wanted to come on here and ask a question about stomach pouches does anyone have a problem with that in that area?

Have had for years. I exercise on and off, which doesn't help. I actually had applied for a scholarship at the Y and they're only to charge me $15/month for a full membership. But, have I used it? No. I remember my teen-20's years and the body I used to have. I try to be realistic, but when I look in the mirror after I get out of the shower, I think "boy, do I need liposuction." Anyway, life goes on.

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I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

I don't have a solution but I do have an observation. I am NOT on treatment, but have noticed an unusual accumulation of belly fat over the last eight months (I believe I've been infected about one year) WITHOUT an increase in general food consumption or a decrease in activity! A good friend of mine who is also infected has had the same experience. In fact when I noticed how much his abdomen had begun to swell, I suggested he get tested. He was poz!I've been surfing the internet to find what causes this and what can be done about it, but all I can find addressess increased body fat due to treatment not merely from hiv infection alone.I am wondering now if when I begin the treatment will this become worse?

just wondering how an undectable viral load and tcells around 400 can be considered "full blown aids".....i just sayin......anyway diet is important as well as exercise for the belly fat. if you can "pinch an inch (or more)" like that cereal commercial used to say than this is fat you can do something about. This is fat that is below the skin and above the sack that hold your internal organs. Sit ups, crunches , whatever works.For fat inside that sack that holds your organs--not a whole lot you can do about it.

"full blown AIDS" isn't a proper clinical term to begin with, but a cd4 % of 12 indicates (regardless of cd4 count) that the patient should consider prophylactic treatment for OI's like PCP, similar to what a <200 cd4 count would indicate.

Roughly roundabout somewhere in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, Sodomite begat Homosexual out of moral, medical and legal models, bequeathing him Identity, who inbred with Nuclear Family and Industrialism to spawn Homophobia.

Thank you for the link. I've had an "I'm 3 or 4 months pregnant" bulge from the belly button down since taking Crixivan sometime in the 90's. Fortunately I am tall so hiding the gut isnt very hard.

I don't even worry about my belly anymore, when you get to be in your 50's, and survived Pre-HARRT , like I have, you got a lotta other HIV+ health problems to be concerned about, I've learned to live with mine....I don't even think about it anymore......I still work-out, and it doesn't even get in the way all that much...

« Last Edit: January 14, 2009, 08:58:59 PM by denb45 »

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

If you were used to being "slim" and have been having a problem with keeping your stomach flat since starting a HIV regimen it could be caused by IRIS - Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome.

I know that it was the same for me after beginning my regimen almost 3 years ago. I was used to looking "fit"(sports in high school and then the military), but laziness caused by depression and my immune system trying to get back in gear, left me felt super bloated after eating the smallest of meals in addition to having a noticeable belly any other time of the day...except maybe after waking up in the morning.

Have certainly seen changes in lipo redistribution with Atripla [though jury's still out]. Same story here; was relatively thin most of life, lost a few sizes with PCP/MAC, then started eating in fear to regain weight. Probably went overboard. Others now admit how scary I looked to them then.

I consulted a nutritionist and have learned that I'm doing well with diet overall. Have made changes not only to monitor weight but BP and lipid changes with Atripla. Wanna lose my marsupial pouch too. I've added Alli[Orlistat] which I think helps even though I have a fairly low fat diet.

Since I do not cook, ever and never will, I've started asking for go-boxes with my meals and put half away. It's often lunch next day. Or I share a meal [more difficult].

Just need to incorporate exercise. I know what to do. I used to teach aerobics and loved it. Have two bikes. I'll see changes when I get off my duff. Now, it's a matter of motivation since fatigue is becoming infrequent.

I would hate to go to the gym in the condition I am in now. I am way too self-conscience for that. I opt for an hour walk per day if I can, crunches here and there, eat healthy, leave out the sweet stuff which is kind of had since my sweet tooth can kick in at any time, and i try to have a positive aspect on life. Still, when i see some 50+ with hard bodies it make me jealous as hell. Then if I can fit in my speedos like they were meant to be fit, slip on 32" waist pants, and have a decent flat stomach, I will join the local gym to tone them muscles. ahhhh.... that's my goal.

p.s. Some mention about a growth hormone that may help called tesamorelin. I have already left a message for my doc and hopefully I can get that to help with the weight problem.

p.s.s. Could it be low testosterone maybe? My doctor says my levels are normal, but maybe it a normal but low for me.

"you must have a hard body... resistence is futile" says the gay genie